Author
Topic: fiire engine.. is it necessary? (Read 1818 times)

I want to know if the specs for the fiire engine are needed to run a lmce network. Do you really need all of those a/v outputs? I guess I can see if this is your ONLY lmce box, but if you want to REALLY keep the core in a closet somewhere, shouldn't you just need a modest (dual-core?) server box with a good raid setup and 2 lan ports? ..and maybe a couple tuner cards to keep everything centralized.. Obviously I could build a server box with a decent amount of storage for the same price if I could forego the a/v "bells and whistles"

As far as maintenance, I'm guessing that the web interface and/or ssh (or maybe even a normal monitor/keyboard) would suffice..

I can see the merit of the fiire station boxes since you need a decent video card and whatever outputs for audio/video.. but the core should be able to be a "headless" box right?

I want to know if the specs for the fiire engine are needed to run a lmce network. Do you really need all of those a/v outputs? I guess I can see if this is your ONLY lmce box, but if you want to REALLY keep the core in a closet somewhere, shouldn't you just need a modest (dual-core?) server box with a good raid setup and 2 lan ports? ..and maybe a couple tuner cards to keep everything centralized.. Obviously I could build a server box with a decent amount of storage for the same price if I could forego the a/v "bells and whistles"

As far as maintenance, I'm guessing that the web interface and/or ssh (or maybe even a normal monitor/keyboard) would suffice..

I can see the merit of the fiire station boxes since you need a decent video card and whatever outputs for audio/video.. but the core should be able to be a "headless" box right?

..or am I just crazy?

-Dan-

We always build our Core's as Hybrid cores (ie they have some ability to deliver the lmce UI locally) even if for the most part the Core will be tucked away in a cupboard - it just makse some maintenance and other task simpler. So we usually use a motherboard with reasonable onboard graphics ie say one of the Intel i945 or i965 boards with 950 or 3000 graphics chips. These are inexpensive enough to not worry about in terms of them only being used now and then and will deliver UI1 perfectly.

I guess it makes some sense to have the core hybrid-capable.. Though, wouldn't any video chipset that can work with X (even with the generic vga or vesa drivers) be enough to work with UI1 since it's pre-rendered?

I'm just curious though.. Is it possible to install LMCE 0704 so that the core doesn't boot to X then (basically so it isn't a hybrid). I would imagine that it would perform better if you could do this and just serve X to the MDs.. All of the setup for the MDs (and any other services) is done via the web interface, correct?

I guess it makes some sense to have the core hybrid-capable.. Though, wouldn't any video chipset that can work with X (even with the generic vga or vesa drivers) be enough to work with UI1 since it's pre-rendered?

I'm just curious though.. Is it possible to install LMCE 0704 so that the core doesn't boot to X then (basically so it isn't a hybrid). I would imagine that it would perform better if you could do this and just serve X to the MDs.. All of the setup for the MDs (and any other services) is done via the web interface, correct?

-Dan-

Your right in a sense that any X capable chipset would suffice for purely UI1 rendering purposes. But often its useful to have the Core capable of playing media particularly when working with TV or streamed video.

Back in the very early days of Pluto (the ancestor of LMCE) it was possible to build an X free Core - in fact that was the only way to build a Core back then! But experience demonstrated that a Hybrid Core was far more flexible and was the configuration of choice for anyone who regularly did Pluto installs. Now however as far as i know there is no simple way to run an X free core.

I guess it makes some sense to have the core hybrid-capable.. Though, wouldn't any video chipset that can work with X (even with the generic vga or vesa drivers) be enough to work with UI1 since it's pre-rendered?

I'm just curious though.. Is it possible to install LMCE 0704 so that the core doesn't boot to X then (basically so it isn't a hybrid). I would imagine that it would perform better if you could do this and just serve X to the MDs.. All of the setup for the MDs (and any other services) is done via the web interface, correct?

-Dan-

We're trying to figure out how to completely start a core without X. Not all the devices are started yet but most of the basics work already. Have a look at: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Clean_Core for the instructions so far.